Dirigible balloon.



BI DI DIBIGIBLE BALLOON. APPLICATION FILED ,mlm a, 1909.

RBBSE Patend' Nov. 2, 1909.

s sums-snm' a.

UNITED sr Arns PATENT oFFroE.

BEYNON D. REESE, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

DIRIGIBLE BALLOON.

Speoication of Letters Patent.

Patented Application filed .Tune 8, 1909. Serial No. 500,940.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, BEYNON I). Runen, a

citizen of the United States, residing in 'may be suitably supportedA when said bag gas bag has been omitted; Fig. 3, is a similarV Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in Dirigible Balloons, of which the following is a specification.

'- vOne object of my invention is to rovide an improved truss construction for t e support of the car, motor, rudder, steering gear, etc. of a dirigible'balloon, which `shall be of such design as to most satisfactorily serve to connect these various parts to the gas bag end portions of the gas bag, `whereby these,

is deflated.

Ialso desire to provide a dirigiblc balloon .with collapsible supports for its gas bag and novel means for connecting said supports with the structure upon which is mounted the steering, propellingand passen- 4ger carrying apparatus.

' f Another-object of the'invention is to provide` improved means for controlling the ascent and descent of the balloon.

These objects and other advantageous ends Ii'secure as hereinafterset forth, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings,

' in which z- Figure 1, is a side elevation illustrating ya dirigible balloon constructed according to my invention; Fig. 2, is a plan in which the planofia modified form of the invention; Fig. 4,- is a vertical section on the linev i-'4,

' Fig. 1; Fig. 5, is aside elevation ofjthe rerably truss structure, showing in detail theside' Icontrolling. planes; Fig. 6, is a plan similar to Fig.l 2, showing the controlling planes more detail; Fig. 7, is an enlarged fragf mentary section illustrating the method of closing the gas bag -and of connecting it to the truss structure. Fig. '8, isa vertical section illustrating the detail construction ,ofthe collapsible device for holding the ends of the balloon in an open or .spread position when the gas bag is deflated, and

9, is a section en the line 7`7 Fig. 8.

-n vthe above drawings, A represents the gas bai of a dirigible balloon, which pref- It is further desired to provide novel 'means for holding the truss to the gas bag, as well as a novel supporting device for thev as the shape of a cylindtfprovided Nov. 2, 190e.

end to end along its 'For joining the edges Aof this light metallic rolled sections a', in the pres-V ent instance shown as angles, so mounted that their adjacent flanges may 'be held l` together bybolts a2 and caused to clamp Y between them the edges formed by the ends of all of the sections -1 It will be understood that if the' contacting faces of the material 'of the sections a do not form a sufliciently tight-joint, suit- .able packing may be placed between them or any suitable cement maybe used to accomplishl this end. I l f For keeping the heinispherical ends ofv the .balloon in an extended position after vthe balloon has been deflated or before it is in- Hated, I provide a construction not vunlike the frame of an umbrella, but preferably constructed as shown in Fig. 8. For this purpose I provide a. tube B' on which is mounted a liange b and a collarv Z/'having vtrunnions 2. Said flange is'provided with a clamping plate b3 whereby the material'of the gas bag, which is pierced at its ends by these tubes, is caused to make a gas tight Avjoint or connection, therewith. Pivoted to said flange b area series of ribs radiating therefrom withln and attached toeach end of the gas bag, and these ribs have aseriesof struts or stretchers c which in turn. are pivoted to a flange c2 which ismounted upon a tube C slidable within the tube B.

As noted, the construction of the. ribs and y stretchers is somewhat similar to that ch-ar; acterizing the well known construction 4fof an umbrella, with the' exception that the 'tube C, which-is the equivalent of the runner of an umbrella, passes through the end of' the-balloon and carries mounted on its outer end a air of pivotally'mounted catche'sc3 normall) The en -of the tube C is p lovided with an' en .agefihy a'v OffficQld' y ressed outward-by springs c4:

eye or `ring c whichv may hook, .orfnsedfor the attachmen or.. chain. The arrangement of the parts is such that when the tube C is pulledout wardly from the gas bag toits maximum extent, the stretchers c attached-to it bring the ribs c, and with them the end of the gas bag to which they 'are attached, to an open or expanded position, and under these con- `ditionsjthe catches o3 are forced outwardly by the springs c? so that their ends engage the endof the tube B, thereby retaining the ribs in their expanded 'ositio'ns lFor preventing leakage'of as t rough saidtubes I thread the outer en of the ltube Band screw A thereon a removable cap B.

In Figs.' 1, 5 and 6, a3 is the rudder and a* the propeller which is mountedupon the shafte", drivenfrom the 4n'r'iiotor a". These y parts are suitably-mounted in any desired manner upon a. trussed frame D which con- 2() sists primarily of twov vertically placedy trusses D" whose end portions come together to form relatively sharp edges from which they gradually diverge until the middle points areA reached. Suitable connecting or l spacing members are mounted between these Y vtwotrusses, which are connected to the lon\ g'itudinally extendin rolled sections a,- which, as before note are directly connected to the gas bag and consequently transmit thereto the weight of the trusses and of the a paratus andmaterial supported thereon;

It will be understoodthat the two Vtrusses are constructed with a View to securing the greatest strength and rigidity with the least a5 weight, and it is obvious that with the arrangement thus illustrated, this end is satisfae'torily obtained. In addition to these 4t'vvo'` trusses, I combine with them a curved member E, which with them forms what is -40 in'efect a bow-string truss construction, this f member extending from the highest point ofi-theimiddle of the two trusses D to the lowest-borner of theend's thereof. By this means "I secure not only greatly increased stren th and ri idity for the structure vcarried the gas ag, but also provide means where y the load produced by this structure j and the parts carried thereon is most satisvfa'ctorily transmitted to the gas bag. It 501 will be understood that iii addition to con necting the truss structure directly to the material of the gas bag, as shown in Fig. 5,

I may also employ the well knownibag covering netting, which, however, has been .omitted from the drawing in order to 'avoid fcrimp'lit'ln, method of use of such netting is, however-,Well knownin this art Y and Vit"ifriay be applied asffound desirable. Tliejtruss structure' D hasat its ends ver'- ytiqally extendingme'mbers a? and a? `whereby in connection with various tension members andthe rolled sectionso",-it is ri' idly con-i nected to the two members a whic lare pro- A "vid'edfwith beaii'nigf'for the trunnions b2. As

'g5 resultaba@ apagan; a Slight amount'. of

up and down movement of the end portions i of the balloon relative to the truss structures to which it is attached.

Side steering planes F and provided, these being hinged or pivoted at their front ends to the sides of the truss.

structure at f and f and bein movably guided at their rear ends on suita ly curved bars f2 and f3. These rear ends of the lanes ribs isl any suita le body of fabric or other material. Said planes are normally spread F are` also Extendin 4betweenand covering the, i

`in thepositions shown, where they are held by'any suitable system of ropes which are capable of adjustment' so'as to permit said planes'to be furled alon side of the truss' structure when the machine is not in use.

In some cases it may be found desirable to 'i 'employ a single truss D', so that the construction appears as shown at D2 in'Fig. 3.

' When itis desired to inflate the balloon the gas bag is suitably mounted and is connected 'to the rolled sections a, while the truss structure D is supported in the osition shown in Fig. l. The stretchers c or each end of. the balloon are then brought to their expandedpositions'by moving the tube C outwardly until its catches c3 spring out- 'Wardly beyond the ends of both tubes into engagement with the tube B', after which gas may be forced into or admitted tothe bag in the well kno'wn manner. Similarly,

when it is desired to deflate the-balloon, the

catches c3 are turned inwardly on their pivots so that their ends disengage the ends l ofthe tube B, after which the tube C is free to move into the balloon so as to permit the ribs and stretehers to'collapse. The asbag may then be separated from the rolIed seca tions a in .order to be packed for shipment or storage and the truss structure may be i'io taken4 apart to any desired extent for the same purpose. Under conditions of use the propeller is driven from the mo'tor, which is controlled in any desired manner by an operatorontheplatform G. The lateral movementof the balloon is governed by manipulating the rudder'afl in t e well known marmer, while its up anddown movementsy arey controlled by the side planes whose rear ends may be raised orloweredat will 4to secure the desired results; It will be understood that thel trussstructure and its controlling plane may, ifdesired, be employed for aerial .navigation as structure hung from Said bag vided with trunnions,

It will be understood, of course, that unv der these conditions the upwardly extending -end portions of the structure might be omitted, but in case of injury to the bag under any conditions, the controlling planes are of such an area as to be amply suiiicient for purposes of aerial navigation, independently of such bag.

I claim 4 l. A dirigible balloon consisting of a gas bag and a structure carried thereb said bag consisting of a series of circumferentiallyv extending strips joined edge to edge and all terminating so as to form a single longitudinal openin in the bag, with means for clamping toget er the edges o'said opening formed by the ends of the strips so`as to close the opening.y y

2. The combination in a dirigible balloon of a gas bag, a truss structure hung'therefrom, and means attached to said structure for holding the ends of the gas bag in an expanded position, said means being capable oi" being collapsed or expanded at will.

3. The combination in a dirigible balloon of a gas bag, propelling mechanism, and a for supporting said propelling mechanism, said structure consisting of a vertically placed panel truss, in combination with a curved member extending from the central upper portion of said truss structure downwardly to the end thereof.

4. The combination in av dirigible balloon of a gas bag consisting of a substantially cylindrical body and hemispherical ends, ribs for said ends, and means for expanding or collapsing said ribs at will, with a truss struct-ure hung from the gas bag, and propelling means carried by said structure.

5. The combination in a dirigible balloon of a gas bag, means for maintaining the ends of said bag in an expanded position, the same including spindles passing4 through each end of the bag and respectively proand a truss structure attached to the bag and movably connected to said trunnions.

6. The combination in a dirigible balloon of a gas bag having-ribs for maintaining its l ends 1n an expanded positlon, a spindle passing through each end of said gas' bag, stretcher members connecting each spind e withthe ribs, and means for holding said spindle in a position to retain the ribs in an expanded position, with a from said s bag.`

7. The combination in a dirigible balloon of a gas bag'having a series of ribs at each structure hung 'with the rear ends 'end for maintaining the same in an expanded position', stretcher members for said ribs, a longitudinally movable spindle passing through each head, catches carried by each spindle for maintaining the same in a position with t-he ribs expanded, trunnions connected to said spindles, and a structure hung from the gas bag and provided with bearings for the reception of said trunnions.

8. The combination in a dirigible balloon of a gas bag made up of a series of circumferentially extending strips joined edge to edge and arranged with their ends terminating in the same line lso as to form a longitudinally lextending opening, a pair of rolled sections having means forjclamping between them the ends of said'strips so as to close said openings, and a truss structure connected to said rolled sections so as to be hung from the gas bag.

9. The combination in a dirigible balloon of a gas bag a :trame carried thereby, a guide bar on each side of the frame, and controlling planes projecting laterally from opposite sides ofthe frame and pivotally connected thereto at oneend, the opposite ends of the planes being adjustable up and down -on said guide bars.

10. The combination in a dirigible balloon of a as bag, a frame carried thereby, and .latera ly projecting planes mounted on opposite sides of said frame, each of said planes consisting of a plurality of radiatingribs pivotally attached to the frame and a body of sheet material guiding means on the frame 1n engagement of the planes for permitting their up and down adjustment.

1l. A device for aerial navigation consisting of a main supporting frame having two collapsible controllingI planes on o posite sides thereof, said planes being adjustable up and down at one end.

12. A ing of a main supporting structure, and controlling planes on opposite sides thereof, each of said planesv being constructed to be furled or spread at will, and being movably attached to the structure at their front ends as well as adjustable up and down at their rear ends.

13. A machine for aerial navigation condevice for aerial navigationv consistmounted on the ribs, with sistin of a main su ortinr structure and -two pairs of collapsible controlling `lanes respectively on opposite sides thereo said planes being each adjustable up and down at one end.

In testimony whereof, I have .signed my name to this specification,

in the presence of 'two subscribing witnesses.

, BEYNON D. REESE. W'itnesses:

WILLIAM E. BRADLEY, WM. A. BARR. 

